'Alive' in the Bible

And of every living thing [found on land], you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Of fowls and birds according to their kind, of animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind—two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.

also of the birds of the air, seven pair, the male and the female, to keep the offspring alive on the surface of the earth.

God destroyed (blotted out, wiped away) every living thing that was on the surface of the earth; man and animals and the crawling things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed from the land. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

And they said, “The man asked us straightforward questions about ourselves and our relatives. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down [here to Egypt]’?”

He asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” And they bowed down [their heads before Joseph] in respect.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless, for they were stunned and dismayed by [the fact that they were in] Joseph’s presence.

and they said to him, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But Jacob was stunned and his heart almost stopped beating, because he did not believe them.

And Israel (Jacob) said, “It is enough! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die [in peace], since I have seen your face [and know] that you are still alive.”

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].

Then Moses went away and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go back so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

If the animal that he stole is found alive in his possession, whether it is ox or donkey or sheep, he shall pay double [for it].

But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying,

But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement on it; it shall be sent into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

But if the Lord creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the Lord!”

So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.

So the sons of Israel killed Og and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left to him; and they took possession of his land.

The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have certainly killed you now, and let her live.”

But all the young girls who have not known a man intimately, keep alive for yourselves [to marry].

but you who held tightly to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.

The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all of us who are alive here today.

So the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear [and worship] the Lord our God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] for our good always and so that He might preserve us alive, as it is today.

Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.

For I know your rebellion and contention and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death?

‘See now that I, I am He,And there is no god besides Me;It is I who put to death and I who give life.I have wounded and it is I who heal,And there is no one who can deliver from [the power of] My hand.

and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, along with everyone who belongs to them, and let us all live.”

But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

They struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he set fire to Hazor.

And now, look, the Lord has let me live, just as He said, these forty-five years since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, look at me, I am eighty-five years old today.

He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

So [the survivors of] Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough [to provide wives] for them.

“The Lord puts to death and makes alive;He brings down to Sheol (the grave) and raises up [from the grave].

He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, though he totally destroyed all [the rest of] the people with the sword.

If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, so that I will not die?

May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave [alive] even one male of any who belong to him.”

David attacked the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, but he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and returned to Achish.

David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring news to Gath, saying [to himself], “Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, ‘This is what David has done, and this has been his practice all the time that he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’”

He said to me, ‘Stand up facing me and kill me, for [terrible] agony has come over me, yet I still live [and I will be taken alive].’

He defeated Moab, and measured them with a length of rope, making them lie down on the ground; he measured two lengths to [choose those to] put to death, and one full length to [choose those to] be kept alive. And the [surviving] Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices. How then can we tell him the child is dead, since he might harm himself [or us]?”

Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive you fasted and wept, but when the child died, you got up and ate food.”

David said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me and the child may live.’

Joab said, “I will not waste time with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive [and caught] in the midst of the tree.

Then the king said, “This woman says, ‘This is my son, the one who is alive, and your son is the dead one’; and the other woman says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the one who is alive.’”

Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the sources of water and to all the streams; perhaps we may find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.”

And he said, “Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.”

So they put sackcloth around their loins and ropes on their necks, and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’” And Ahab asked, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, because Naboth is no longer alive, but dead.”

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes [in shock and outrage at the request] and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me [a request] to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider [what he is asking] and see how he is seeking an opportunity [for a battle] with me.”

If we say, ‘We will enter the city’—then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit still here, we will also die. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians). If they let us live, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”

Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; so they have left the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’”

Then Jehu said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and [later] slaughtered them at the well by the place of the sand heaps, forty-two men; he left none of them [alive].

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon [as advisers] while he was alive, asking, “What advice do you give me in answer to these people?”

Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that none of them were found alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His army. And they carried away a very large amount of spoil.

The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff. They threw them down from the top of the cliff and they were all crushed to pieces.

“You have become harsh and cruel to me;With the might of Your hand You [keep me alive only to] persecute me.

All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).

To rescue their lives from deathAnd keep them alive in famine.

The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;And he will be called blessed in the land;You do not hand him over to the desire of his enemies.

Let death come deceitfully upon them;Let them go down alive to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),For evil [of every kind] is in their dwelling and in their hearts, in their midst.

And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me,Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation,Your power to all who are to come.

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,When their wrath was kindled against us;

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol (the place of the dead),Even whole, as those who go down to the pit [of death];

So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living.

Now in that day [because of the poverty caused by the invaders] a man will keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep;

“Leave your orphans behind; I will [do what is needed to] keep them alive.And let [those who are] your widows trust and confide in Me.”

“Yet I will leave some of you alive [a remnant], for you will have some who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered throughout the countries.

For the seller will not regain and return to what he sold, even were they yet alive; for the vision [of punishment] regarding all the multitude [of people] will not be turned back, nor will any one of them sustain his life because of his sin.

and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who fasten magic (protective) charms on all wrists and make veils for the heads of those of every stature to capture [human] lives! Will you capture the lives of My people but keep your own?

and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language trembled and feared him. Whomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he kept alive; whomever he wished he promoted and whomever he wished he humbled.

And now they sin more and more,And make for themselves molten images,Idols skillfully made from their silver [as it pleased them],All of them the work of the craftsmen.They say of these [very works of their hands], “Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the calves [as if they were living gods]!”

Then one’s uncle, or his undertaker, shall come to bring the [disease-infected] body out of the house, [to cremate it], and he will say to another in the farthest part of the house, “Is there anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will respond, “Hush! Keep quiet! For the name of the Lord is not to be mentioned [even casually, for fear that we might invoke even more punishment].”

“It will come about in all the land,”Declares the Lord,“Two parts in it will be cut off and perish,But the third will be left alive.

But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.